Spy talk: NSA seeking spokesperson

The National Security Agency is looking for someone new to lead its communications shop.

According to an online job posting, the spy agency is looking for a new director of strategic communications who will serve as its primary representative and walk the fine line between transparency and the necessary secrecy for an intelligence agency.

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The new communications director “will be the principal architect of external outreach designed to meet the President's expectations for greater transparency” as laid out in a speech earlier this year, the NSA said in its job posting.

The often tight-lipped spy agency was thrust into the spotlight last summer, when leaks from former contractor Edward Snowden made the Fort Meade, Md., agency a household name.

Since then, the agency’s communications team has dealt with the fallout from scores of revelations about its domestic and international surveillance. Documents from Snowden showed that the agency was collecting Americans’ phone records, snooping on foreign leaders’ cellphones and grabbing information from major online companies such as Facebook and Google.

Officials at the NSA and elsewhere in government have continually repeated that the operations fall within the confines of the law and are critical to protecting the country from terrorists and foreign agents.

Whomever is chosen to take over as the new communications director should have at least 10 years of experience, the NSA said, as well as “demonstrated credible crisis management training and experience” and an “absolute record of discretion, confidentiality in all matters with a professional and appropriate demeanor and reputation maintained inside and outside the work place.”

The offered salary will be linked to applicants’ education and experience but can run up to $175,000.

An NSA representative did not immediately respond to a question from The Hill about the job ad.